“The guerrilla fights the war of the flea, and his military enemy
suffers the dog’s disadvantages: too much to defend; too small,
ubiquitous, and agile an enemy to come to grips with.” With these words,
Robert Taber began a revolution in conventional military thought that
has dramatically impacted the way armed conflicts have been fought since
the book’s initial publication in 1965. Whether ideological,
nationalistic, or religious, all guerrilla insurgencies use similar
tactics to advance their cause. War of the Flea's timeless
analysis of the guerrilla fighter’s means and methods provides a
fundamental resource for any reader seeking to understand this distinct
form of warfare and the challenge it continues to present to today’s
armed forces in the Philippines, Colombia, and elsewhere.